Seriously, as good as DS-9 was (aside from just about every holodeck episode, Risa epsiode, Nog-centric episode, and time travel episode) they aped B-5 almost point for point when they were both being broadcast together.

There would be no "Dominion" without "The Shadows." DS-9 wouldn't have gotten its weapons upgrade without the B-5 episode, "Shattered Dreams." It was pretty shameless.

BortHogwash -- the Dominion and the Shadows are nothing alike, except to the extent that they're powerful bad guys.

But if you want to dwell on similarities, any TV show built around squabbling diplomats and a meeting place called Babel is a rip-off of an old "Star Trek" episode. Even Kirk's wooden ass shows up in B5 (in the form of Michael O'Hare's acting skills).

FABIOSupposedly the studio had turned down B5, but when they heard another was going to produce it, rushed ahead with their own version by just slapping a Star Trek sticker over it.

Which would explain why it was so un-Star Trek with all the heavy focus on spirituality.

SteamPoweredKleenex@Bort: You misunderstand: I watched them both when they were in syndication. Every time B-5 had a major plot development, DS-9 would go in a similar direction later that season. As soon as the Shadows became a looming baddie, the Dominion appeared. Unlike B-5, however, DS-9 had no fucking clue where it was going as it lacked a head writer. This is one of Star Trek's biggest problems in that it usually just makes stuff up as it goes rather than having a direction. What's even sadder about them thinking they needed their own copy of the Shadows was that I was hoping for an interesting Israel/Palestine metaphor in the form of the Cardassians and the Bajorans, but that kind of got hucked out the air lock.

And if you want to line up bad acting, 'Trek has far more of it than DS-9 had (again, Nog, Jake, Dax (both of them), Worf... the list of lumber goes on). Bad acting I can forgive, but bad writing is painful no matter who delivers it. Berman & Braga may have kept Trek alive, but much like a patient on life support, it often wasn't worth the effort.

BortThe Dominion first came up in the second season of DS9, in 1993. Which season of B5 was being aired at the time? (The nonexistentth season.)

memedumpsterBoth shows were primarily cheese driven and ended incredibly ridiculously. Neither has aged well and nobody wants to see them come back. Both shows were nails in the coffin of science fiction, since no one bothered to think of the wonder of space exploration anymore, instead opting to just drag our stupid bullshit war glorification into space with bigger explosions and freaky aliens. They were both shallow as hell.

saganakiDragging "our stupid bullshit war glorification into space" is almost as old as the genre itself, and as far as bigger explosions and freaky aliens go, I think Star Wars beats both, and predates either by 15+ years.

oddeyeWhat a pussy dick. Not only does he weep about the death of one senator to prevent then all from being wiped out but he even smacks the guy who did it all so flawlessly in the face. TWICE.

I had a feeling if he had tried to punch Garak one more time that Garak would have tailor-fued his ass through the wormhole.

Rodents of Unusual SizeSisko was often abusive towards people that irritated him. He is my favorite Star Trek captain.

sliggyMy favorite part about this, other than the righteous beatdown, is the fact that it totally backfires. The Romulans start taking over chunks of Bajor in about a week.

oddeyeWho the hell cares about Bajor anyway? I never got what the boner for protecting them was apart from the hot major and co.

memedumpsterBajor was the West Bank of the Federation. Even on the show no one cared about them, it was just an extra word tacked onto "Wormhole," which was why anyone wanted to be there at all.

Rodents of Unusual SizeThe wormhole was in Bajor's territory. The wormhole led to the Gamma Quadrant. Only way to get to the Gamma Quadrant was through the wormhole, unless you travel like 30 or so years there by spaceship (in the Star Trek universe)

Whoever has the wormhole controls the trade possibilities, treaties with new civilizations, diplomatic envoys, etc.

oddeyeWhat does that have to do with Bajor? Just use the damn wormhole regardless of if they like it or not, what are they going to do about it?

CheeseDupe? I swear this has been on here before. Either way, it's pretty great.

SphinxOn the set I bet these two had a bet about who would overact the most. Andrew Robinson should never have taken that bet. Once Avery Brooks brought in the shoulder shrugs and hand wringing the game was over.

However, hopefully Garak will soon be a linked tag because seriously, Garak.